The Wicca Queen 2: Willow's Pride
by boop-oop-ee-doo
Summary: It's not over yet! Willow tells Sophie about the adventures of Willow & Tara's daughter Buffy, and how she inadvertently causes some new problems in the Sunnylands when she falls for Wilkins' heir, Faith, forced by her mother into a plot against Willow.
1. The Presentation Of Buffy

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.

AN: Okay, this starts the night after the first 'Wicca Queen' story, but as always with these, the time isn't really important.

* * *

Three year-old Sophie Rosenberg had never been more excited to go to bed. The night before, her Mama Tara had told her a very exciting bedtime story. She hadn't quite finished it though, and had said that her Mommy Willow would tell her more tonight. So, she was waiting patiently as Mommy Willow tucked her in.

"Is that alright?" said Willow as she finished.

"Uh-huh" Sophie nodded. "Will you tell me the story now, Mommy Willow?"

"Okay" Willow smiled, settling down beside her. "Now, this part of the story starts where the first part finished, at the presentation of Willow and Tara's daughter, Buffy.."

* * *

It was early morning in the Sunnylands. A gust of wind blew over those who were still sleeping, waking them to indicate that it was time to head to Sunny Rock for the presentation of their new Princess.

_**Night,**_

_**And the spirit of life **_

_**Oh, oh, eyo.**_

_**Oh, oh eyo.**_

Lorne the demon shaman stood atop Sunny Rock, watching as the Sunnylanders gathered below.

**_Wait!_**

**_There's no mountain too great._**

**_Say the words and have faith._**

**_Oh, oh, eyo._**

An image of the current Queen Willow's father, the dearly departed King Giles, appeared in the clouds, smiling at Lorne.

_**He lives in you,**_

**_He lives in me._**

**_He watches over,_**

**_Everything we see._**

**_Into the water,_**

**_Into the truth._**

**_In your reflection,_**

**_He lives in you._**

Wesley, who had played chief advisor to Giles and now did the same for his daughter, counted the Sunnylanders to ensure that everyone was present who needed to be, then scrambled up to the top of the rock to join the group that were crowded around Queen Willow's wife Tara, admiring the baby girl in her arms. This group included Lorne, Xander and Anya, Willow's friends who had more or less raised her since they'd found her in the desert after Giles' death, and of course, Willow herself, who smiled proudly at the baby, her arm wrapped around Tara's waist. The baby's name was Buffy, and she had soft blonde hair and hazel coloured eyes. Lorne gently took the baby from Tara's arms, carrying her to the end of Sunny Rock. He held the Princess high for all the Sunnylander's to see, and they cheered. A gust of wind blew, carrying some leaves above baby Buffy's head. She giggled, reaching up and trying to catch them. Willow felt the wind too and smiled, sensing her father's presence. After the cheers died down, Lorne carried Buffy back to her parents, placing her in Willow's arms.

"Aww, just look at that little girl Xander, a real chip of the old block!" Anya grinned, looking on. "And of course you know who's gonna raise her!"

"Uh.. her parents?" said Xander, confused.

"Oh sure, get technical" Anya frowned. "But who do you think's gonna teach her the _really_ important stuff, like how to belch," she burped, "And dig for grubs? I'm telling you buddy, it's gonna be like old times. Just you, me, and the little wicca!"

"Um, about that" Willow chuckled, gently bouncing Buffy, as she and Tara approached. "See, it turns out that Tara and I both have some Slayer blood a few generations back, and if you've got Slayer blood in you it's always gonna pop up again somewhere, so.."

"The baby is a Slayer" laughed Lorne.

"A SLAYER?" cried Anya and Xander in unison, fainting.

* * *

"Silly Xander and Anya!" Sophie giggled.


	2. Not Just A Princess

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.

* * *

"They are silly, aren't they?" Willow smiled.

"Uh-huh" said Sophie. "So then what happened?"

"Well, just like Willow, Buffy's adventures started when she was five years old.."

* * *

The five year old Princess Buffy ran out of the cave, looking over the Sunnylands just as her mother had when she was her age.

"Wow" she breathed. Buffy giggled, then ran to go off and play, but a pair of hands grabbed her from behind.

"Whoa, whoa" Willow grinned, lifting her daughter up. "Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"Mommy!" Buffy giggled, trying to wriggle out of the Queen's grip. "Mommy, let go!"

"I just want you to be careful" said Willow, setting her daughter down. She frowned when the little girl became distracted with trying to capture a passing butterfly. "Buffy, are you listening to me? Accidents can happen. You could get hurt, or..

"Or stepped on, or even get lost" Buffy finished, reciting by rote. She had heard this speech millions of times before.

"And remember, I want you to stay in sight of Sunny Rock.."

"At all times, I know" said Buffy, rolling her eyes.

"Yes" said Willow, "And.."

"If I see any strangers, don't talk to them, come straight home" Buffy frowned, crossing her arms. "So can I go now?"

"Very funny" Willow chuckled.

"Mind your Mother, Buffy" said Tara, walking up beside her wife.

"Yes, Mama" said Buffy.

"And stay out of the Outlands" warned Willow.

"There's nothing there but a bunch of murderous, backstabbing outsiders" added Wesley, taking his place at the Queen's other side. The Outsiders were a group that, for some reason, had chosen to remain loyal to Wilkins after Willow had reclaimed the throne, forcing her to banish them into the Outlands.

"Wesley's right" said Willow seriously. "You can't turn your back on them.."

"Why not?" asked Buffy curiously.

"Never mind" said Willow. "Just run along now."

"But Mommy.."

"You'll understand when you're older. Off you go" said Willow, watching as her daughter ran out of the cave. "And remember to stay on the path I've marked for you!" Watching her wife stare after Buffy with a worried look on her face, Tara let out a small chuckle. "I don't see how this is funny" Willow frowned.

"Willow, who does she remind you of?" Tara smiled.

"Huh?" said Willow, confused.

"She's just like you when you were young" Tara replied.

"Exactly" Willow frowned. "Do you realise the dangers we put ourselves in?" Tara laughed in reply, tackling Willow and pinning her to the ground just as she had done when they were children.

"You mean the dangers that _you_ put us in." Tara gave her wife a kiss before letting her up. "Don't worry about Buffy. She'll be fine."

"Maybe you're right.." Willow relented. But, as soon as Tara had moved out of earshot, Willow beckoned Anya and Xander to her.

"Good morning, mon Capitan" Xander greeted with a bow.

"I want you two to keep a close eye on Buffy for me today" said Willow seriously. "You know she's bound to run off."

"No problem, Willow" said Anya. "We'll be on her like stink on a cyclops!"

"Hey!" Xander snapped.

"It's a hard truth, Xander, live with it" said Anya, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Guys, this is serious!" said Willow. "I'm counting on you. There could be danger behind every rock!"

* * *

"Ha!" cried Anya, leaping around a rock, frowning when no sign of danger was present. Xander shook his head, knowing she had obviously taken Willow's instructions too literally. Nearby, Buffy was stalking through the grass, following the butterfly that she had been trying to capture in the cave earlier.

"The mighty Slayer has cornered her pray" she grinned as the butterfly perched on a rock. Buffy pounced on it, but missed, and sat on the rock watching as it fluttered away over a pond and then beyond the borders of the Kingdom, into the barren wasteland where the grass was dry and very few green plants grew. "Wow, the Outlands" she whispered to herself. "I wonder what's out there.." Unfortunately, Anya, still searching for danger, chose this moment to leap around that particular rock, startling Buffy and causing her to scream and topple into the pond.

"Don't worry, Buffy!" cried Xander, seeing the whole thing and leaping into the water after her. "Uncle Xander's coming!"

"Oh no" Anya panicked, before rehearsing the conversation she thought she may have to have with a certain royal friend. "Well Willow, the good news is, we found your daughter. Bad news is, we dropped a cyclops on her. Is there a problem with that?" Xander crawled out of the pond, accidentally sitting on top of Buffy who had gotten out just before him.

"Buffy?" he called, looking around. "Buffy, where are you?"

"Xander" Anya frowned, "Let me define the term : _Babysitting!_" she yelled, gesturing to the spluttering child beneath him.

"Oops, sorry" he blushed, standing to let a very annoyed Buffy up. "Now, Princess Buffy, as Willow's daughter you should no better than to go off on your own. You could have been hurt!"

"Hurt?" Anya yelped. "Willow would kill us!" she rushed over and began inspecting Buffy for any sign of injury. "You didn't slip a disc did you? Catch a fever? Get a hangnail?"

"Anya!" Buffy snapped, pulling her hand out of the demons grip.

"Hey, I had one once!" Anya yelled.

"Very painful" Xander agreed.

"Excruciating!" Anya finished. She plucked a frond from a nearby palm tree and held it over Buffy's head. "You know honey, with your complexion you should really stay out of the Sun!"

"Cut it out!" Buffy yelled, batting the frond away.

"What?" Anya frowned. "Do you wanna wrinkle?"

"Would someone just listen to me?" shouted Buffy, annoyed.

"What is it, Princess?" asked Xander.

"I'm not just a Princess, you know" Buffy frowned, crossing her arms. "That's only half of who I am!"

"What's the other half?" asked Anya.

"Um, uh, well.." Buffy wasn't entirely sure yet, but she knew she had to be more than just a princess.

"While you're working it out, let's eat" said Anya, rubbing her hands together. She lifted a rock, revealing a bunch of assorted insects. "Bugs!" she grinned.

"The other meat" Xander smiled.

"And so high in protein" said Anya, scooping some bugs onto a leaf and offering it to Buffy.

"Gross!" said Buffy. Anya shrugged and turned to Xander.

"I love bugs" he grinned, taking one.

"Not like" smiled Anya.

"_Love_" they sighed in unison. Xander took a bite out of his bug, then burped and spat it back onto the leaf.

"Xander, you always do that!" Anya snapped. "You take a bite out of one and then put it back, it drives me nuts!"

"But you can't tell from the outside which are the really slimy ones" said Xander.

"Xander, my friend" Anya frowned, "It's the crunchy ones that make the meal!"

"No, it's the slimy ones!" yelled Xander.

"Crunchy!" Anya yelled.

"Slimy!" shouted Xander.

"Crunchy!"

"Slimy!"

"Crunchy!"

"Slimy!"

"Crunchy!"

"Less filling!" yelled Xander.

"Tastes good!" Anya shot back.

"Less filling!

"Tastes good!"

"Less filling!"

"Tastes good!" While the pair continued to argue, Buffy quietly slipped away. She paddled across the pond on a log, reaching the border of the Outlands. She smiled as she began to explore her new suroundings, until she tripped, tumbling down a log and landing right on top of the dark-haired Outsider girl who was sitting at the bottom of it.

* * *

"Uh-oh" said Sophie.


	3. Adventures In The Outlands

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.

* * *

"It's only a little girl, Sophie" Willow laughed.

"But she's an Outsider!" Sophie cried. "The Willow in the story said Outsiders are dangerous!"

"This one's too young to be dangerous yet" said Willow. "Besides, Kiddo, children can usually see past the differences that are supposed to make them enemies better than grown-ups can, and eventually they won't see them at all.."

* * *

Buffy, panicking, scrambled off of the girl. The girl had dark hair which was slightly tangled, deep brown eyes, and a few smudges of dirt on her face. When she had gotten over the shock of what had happened, she stood and glared angrily at Buffy.

"What are you doin' here Sunnylander?" she growled. The girl tried to circle the Princess, but Buffy leapt from side to side, ensuring that they were always face to face. Eventually, the Outsider's curiosity got the better of her and the anger fell from her face, being replaced by a look of confusion. "What are you doing?" she asked, puzzled.

"My Mommy told me to never turn your back on an Outsider!" Buffy replied, trying to hide her fear.

"I bet you always do what your Mommy tells you" the other girl smirked.

"Do not!" yelled Buffy, annoyed.

"Bet you do!" the girl teased. "Bet you're Mommy's little girl!" She laughed and walked away, hopping halfway across the nearby river on some logs. "Outsiders don't need anybody. I take care of myself!"

"Really? Cool!" Buffy grinned, running along and jumping after her. The Outsider grinned, glad to impress the newcomer, but her eyes widened in fear when a crocodile rose up out of the water behind the Princess. Noticing this Buffy turned around, and screamed.

"Run, this way!" the other girl cried. The kids jumped across some more logs, which began rising up and revealing themselves as more crocodiles, but eventually settled on two seemingly harmless stones further down the river, panting. "That was a close one."

"Yeah" Buffy agreed. Suddenly, the stones rose up to reveal themselves as _even_ _more_ crocodiles, forcing the children to flee again. Buffy managed to pull herself up into a mangled tree branch, but the Outsider girl continued to leap across the swarm of hungry reptiles. "What are you doing?" Buffy yelled.

"I'll distract them!" the girl cried. "Run!" Buffy was about to do as instructed, when she suddenly saw the girl slip into the water. The Outsider could seemingly swim well enough, but she was trapped between a rock and a crocodile's opening jaws. One bite and the girl would be history. Buffy bit her lip. Everything she had ever been told about Outsiders was running through her mind, but this girl didn't seem to be any of those things. She couldn't just leave her. So, Buffy leapt from the safety of the tree branch down onto the croc's jaws, forcing them to snap shut.

"Come on!" she yelled, grabbing the girl's hand and pulling her up. Together, the two managed to make it safely back to the river bank. "Wow, I did it!" Buffy gasped, before blowing a rasberry at the angry crocodiles. Both children collapsed onto their backs, rolling around in fits of laughter. "Did you see the size of those teeth?" Buffy grinned. "They were going 'rar rar rar!' and then that croc was totally gonna eat you up but I jumped on his head and bopped him so good!" Unbeknownst to the two children, Glorificus, more comonly known as Glory and the hell-god leader of Wilkins' remaining followers, crouched in a nearby bush, scowling. "We made such a good team!" Buffy continued. She sat up and turned to the girl, smiling. "And.. You were so brave."

"Yeah, you were pretty brave too, I guess" the girl admitted, before finally deciding to introduce herself. "I'm Faith."

"I'm Buffy" the Princess smiled, blushing slightly. Glory, who so happened to be Faith's mother, growled from her place in the bushes, but was unheard by the children.

"Buffy?" Faith frowned, wrinkling her nose. "Uh, how about I just call ya B? Sounds way cooler."

"Yeah" Buffy agreed. The pair remained silent for a few moments, until Buffy gave Faith a light nudge, before playfully leaping out of the other girl's reach. "Tag, you're it!" she giggled. When Faith didn't respond, Buffy nudged her again. "Tag, you're it!" The little brunette just stared at her, puzzled.

"What's the matter?" said Buffy. "Don't you know how to play?" Faith bowed her head, feeling embarassed. Buffy frowned, not wanting to upset her new friend, but then smiled thinking of a game that was probably a lot more suited to Faith. "Grrr!" She giggled, jumping around. "I'm a vampire, I bet the big old Slayer can't get me!"

"Oh yeah, she can!" Faith grinned, picking up a stick to use as a pretend stake. She chased Buffy around, giggling, until she suddenly crashed into an unfamiliar adult leg, and backing away in panic when she looked up to find Willow glaring down at her. Glory chose this moment to leap out of the bushes angrily, stepping between Willow and Faith.

"Glorificus" Willow growled.

"Willow" Glory snarled, before smirking as Tara came to Willow's side, along with Xander and Anya, and some of the other Sunnylanders. "Tara."

"Glory" Tara greeted coldly, nodding.

"Anya, Xander" said Anya, pointing to herself, then her companion. "Now that we all know each other.. GET THE HELL OUT OF OUR SUNNYLANDS!"

"_Your_ Sunnylands?" Glory growled. "I don't what Miss Willow here told you, honey, but these lands belong to Wilkins!"

"I banished you from the Sunnylands" said Willow coldly. "Now, you and your kid, get out."

"Oh, haven't you met my daughter, Faith?" said Glory, dragging the shaking child out from behind her leg. "She was hand chosen by Wilkins to follow in his footsteps and become Queen!" Willow glared at Faith, who tried to slip back behind her Mother, but Glory wouldn't let her.

"That's not a Queen" Anya frowned, gesturing to the shivering little girl. "It's a chubby maraca!"

"Faithy here was the last born before you banished us into the Outlands, where we have little food, less water.." Began Glory melodramatically.

"You know the penalty for returning to the Kingdom" Willow interrupted, frowning.

"But the kid doesn't" Glory reminded her. "But, if you must have your pound of flesh, _Your Majesty_.." she pushed her terrified daughter forward, "Here." Willow looked at the frightened little girl, the same age as her own daughter, and shook her head. She had learnt long ago that ruthlessness was the only way to deal with Glory, but she couldn't kill a helpless child, no matter whose heir she was supposed to be. The worst part was, Glory knew it.

"Take her and go" Willow growled, turning around and scooping Buffy into her arms. "We're done here."

"Oh no, Willow" Glory smirked, grabbing Faith by the collar and dragging her away roughly. "We've barely begun." Buffy sighed, staring after her new friend over her Mother's shoulder.

"Bye" she whispered sadly.

"Bye" Faith whispered back, feeling just as sad.

* * *

"Aww" said Sophie.


	4. We Are One

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.

* * *

"Ah, so you get what I said about kids seeing past things better now?" asked Willow.

"Uh-huh" said Sophie, nodding.

"Good" Willow smiled. "Now, on the way back to Sunny Rock, Willow decided that she had to have a very important talk with her daughter.."

* * *

Willow sat Buffy down on a rock, gesturing for the others to go on without them. Tara stopped to give her wife a kiss, and a warning not to be too hard on their daughter, then headed home with Xander and Anya.

"Buffy, what do you think you were doing out there?" Willow asked, frowning. "You could have been killed."

"I know" said Buffy.

"I'm only saying this because I love you" said Willow, feeling a strong sense of deja vu about this conversation, only last time she had been on her daughter's side. "I don't want to lose you."

"I know" Buffy repeated.

"If something were to happen to you, I don't know what I'd do" Willow continued, hugging Buffy. "One day I won't be here, and I need you to go on in in my place. You're a part of the great.."

"Circle of life, I know" Buffy sighed.

"Exactly. As the future Queen, you have to.."

"What if I don't wanna be the Queen?" Buffy frowned.

"That's like saying you're not a Slayer, even though you are" said Willow. "It's in you're blood, just like it's in mine. We're a part of each other." Buffy pouted and crossed her arms. Willow playfully shoved her off the rock grinning as her daughter glared at her.

Willow: _**As you go through life you'll see,**_

**_There is so much that we,_**

**_Don't understand._**

Buffy watched, sighing, as a mother bird reprimanded a fledgeling chick that tried to leave the nest.

**_And the only thing we know,_**

**_Is things don't always go, _**

**_The way we've planned._**

**_But you'll see every day_**

**_That we'll never turn away,_**

**_When it seems all your dreams come undone._**

**_We will stand by your side,_**

**_Filled with hope and filled with pride._**

**_We are more than we are, _**

**_We are one._**

Willow smiled as she watched another mother playing with her child nearby, but Buffy sighed as she caught her reflection in the lake.

Buffy:**_ If there's so much I must be, _**

**_Can I still just be me,_**

**_The way I am?_**

A fish jumped up out of the water, shattering her reflection.

_**Can I trust in my own heart,**_

**_Or am I just one part,_**

**_Of some big plan?_**

A gust of wind tickled Willow's face. The Queen smiled, once again feeling Giles' presence.

Willow: _**Even those who are gone**_

**_Are with us as we go on,_**

**_Your journey has only begun._**

**_Tears of pain, _**

**_Tears of joy,_**

**_One thing nothing can destroy,_**

**_Is our pride,_**

**_Deep inside,_**

**_We are one._**

Willow took off at a run with Buffy beside her, speeding past the people of the Sunnylands as they raced back to Sunny Rock.

_**We are one, **_

_**You and I,**_

**_We are like the earth and sky,_**

**_One family under the Sun. _**

The pair climbed to the top of Sunny Rock, once again gazing out over the Kingdom.

**_All the wisdom to lead,_**

**_All the courage that you need,_**

**_You will find when you see,_**

**_We are one._**

"As long as you live here, it's who you are" Willow smiled, kissing her daughter's forehead before heading into the cave to join Tara. Buffy just sighed, sitting down at the end of Sunny Rock and staring sadly into the Outlands in the distance.

* * *

"Poor Buffy" Sophie sighed.


	5. Glory's Lullaby

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.

* * *

"Poor Buffy?" said Willow, raising an eyebrow. "Buffy had no idea how lucky she was."

"But she's sad.." said Sophie.

"Maybe, but her problems were nothing compared to what Faith had to go through.."

* * *

Back in the Outlands, the rest of the Outsiders were either hunting, or fighting over some miniscule scrap of food one of them had managed to find. Cordelia, Faith's eight-year old half-sister, was digging around a tree root, while their twelve-year old brother, Warren (Brother to Cordelia, half-brother to Faith), approached her from behind, muttering to himself.

"Faith, Faith, Faith" he grumbled bitterly. "Wilkins wasn't even her father, he just took her in.. Hey, Cordy" he said, tapping his sister on the shoulder. "Where's the little termite? You know, _'The Chosen one'_?"

"Warren!" Cordelia snapped, turning around and glaring at him when no sign of their young half-sibling could be seen. "Where's Faith? Did you leave her out there on her own again?"

"Hey, it's every man for himself out here!" said Warren, scratching to relieve himself of the termites and other various insects that had chosen him as their host. "The little termite's gotta learn to be on her own!"

"Mom'll be mad" Cordy frowned, crossing her arms. "She told you to watch her."

"Who cares?" Warren snapped, scratching his back on the tree that Cordelia had been digging around. "I should have been the Chosen One! I'm the oldest, the strongest, the smartest.. Oooh, these termites!" he groaned. "I could be a great leader, if she'd just give me a chance!"

"Maybe you should tell Mom that" said Cordy, laughing at her brother's condition.

"Yeah! Don't think I won't!" Warren growled, turning away.

"Well here's your chance" Cordy smirked.

"What?" Warren yelped, turning to see Glory approaching, still dragging poor Faith by the collar. "Mother! Oh, welcome back Mother. I caught some birds for your dinner.." Glory walked straight past, ignoring him. "Okay" he chuckled nervously.

"Hey Faithy!" said Cordelia, playfully growling jumping around her younger sister as Glory released the girl's collar. "Wanna fight?" Faith just bowed her head sadly. She didn't feel like playing right now.

"You were supposed to be watching her, you idiot!" Glory growled, poking Warren in the chest.

"It's not his fault!" Faith cried, leaping to Warren's defence in a way her brother never would have done for her. "I wandered off!"

"On that note" said Glory angrily, turning and shoving her youngest daughter to the ground, "What the hell do you think you were doing?"

"Nothing!" Faith cried, holding her hands up to shield herself.

"Who made us Outsiders?" Glory snarled.

"Willow!" Faith replied, frightened.

"And who killed Wilkins?"

"Willow!" Faith repeated. Glory had of course never bothered to mention to her children that the self-appointed King had actually been killed by the vampire followers he had tried to turn his back on, and that the death was really no fault of Willow's.

"And what have I told you about them?" Glory growled.

"I'm sorry, Mom. But she.." Faith hesitated, not wanting to further incur her Mother's wrath. "She didn't seem so bad. I thought we could be.."

"What?" Glory spat. "You thought you could be friends? Thought you'd get to the daughter, and Willow would welcome you with open arms? What an idea" Glory rolled her eyes, but then a smile spread over face. "Oh, Faithy, what an idea!" The hell-god pulled her still frightened daughter to her, ruffling her hair, and hugging her just a little too tightly. "You brilliant child, I'm so proud of you! You already have the same conniving mind that made Wilkins so.. _Powerful_."

"Maybe that's why she's the Chosen one" Warren grumbled.

"You keep your mouth shut" Glory growled, silencing her son. She picked Faith up, carrying her into the dark, damp cave that the Outsiders slept in and sitting her in the makeshift cradle that Cordelia had carved out of a rock. "I now see the path to our glorious return to power!"

"But I don't want.." Faith began.

"Hush" Glory interrupted, tucking Faith in under some ragged blankets. "Hush, little one. You must be exhausted."

Glory: _**Sleep my little Faithy,**_

**_Let your dreams take wing._**

**_One day when you're big and strong,_**

**_You will be a Queen._**

"Goodnight" Faith yawned, drifting off.

"Goodnight, my little Princess" Glory grinned evilly. "Tomorrow, your training intensifies." She turned around, putting on a dramatic act for the other Outsiders.

_**I've been exiled!**_

**_Persecuted!_**

**_Left alone with no defense!_**

**_When I think of what that brute did,_**

**_I get a little tense._**

**_But I dream a dream so pretty,_**

**_That I don't feel so depressed,_**

**_'Cause it soothes my inner kitty,_**

**_And helps me get some rest._**

**_The sound of Willow's dying gasp!_**

Warren began writhing around on the floor, imitating a dying Willow.

**_Her daughter squealing in my grasp!_**

Warren picked up Cordelia, trying to act out this part too, but he dropped his sister when she kicked him in the shin, smirking.

**_The Sunnylander's mournful cry,_**

**_That's my lullaby!_**

Glory bowed her head, giving a mock-sigh.

**_Now in the past I've tried forgetting,_**

**_And my foes I could forgive.._**

She looked up, grinning evilly.

**_The trouble is,_**

**_I know it's petty,_**

**_But I'd hate to let them live._**

Warren sidled up to his Mother, sharing her grin.

Warren:**_ So you found yourself somebody who'd chase Willow up a tree!_**

Glory nodded, smirking.

Glory:**_ Oh the battle may be bloody,_**

**_But that kind of works for me._**

She strode proudly through the crowd of Outsiders, whispering her plans to them, and grinning as they cheered.

_**The melody of angry growls,**_

**_A counterpoint of painful howls,_**

**_A symphony of death, oh my!_**

**_That's my lullaby!_**

Glory made her way back to the sleeping Faith, gently stroking her hair.

**_Wilkins is gone,_**

**_But Glory's still around_**

**_To love this little lass,_**

**_Until she learns to be a killer,_**

**_With a lust for being bad!_**

Warren and Cordelia stepped over to the cradle. Cordy looked fondly at her sister, while Warren frowned.

Warren: **_Sleep you little termite.._**

Glory glared, and he chuckled nervously.

**_I mean,_**

**_Precious little thing.._**

Cordelia:**_ One day when you're big and strong.._**

Glory:**_ You will be a Queen!_**

She punched a hole in the rock above Faith's cradle, letting moonlight stream in over her. Cordy winced, leaning in to shield her sister from the falling debris, while the other Outsiders gathered around.

_**The pounding of the drums of war,**_

**_The thrill of Faith's almighty roar!_**

Warren:**_ The joy of vengeance!_**

Cordelia:**_ Testify!_**

Glory:**_ I can hear the cheering!_**

Cordelia was very enthusiastic, while Warren was sarcastic, waving a tiny makeshift flag.

Warren and Cordelia: **_Faith, what a gal!_**

Glory:**_ Payback time is nearing, _**

**_And then our flag will fly,_**

**_Against a blood-red sky, _**

**_That's my lullaby!_**

The hell-god cackled evilly, while the Outsiders cheered.

* * *

"Okay" said Sophie, "That's worse."

* * *

AN: I'd just like to point out that the Cordy in this story takes her characterisation from the later seasons of 'Angel'.


	6. Different Lives

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.

* * *

Before Willow could go on, Faith appeared in the doorway.

"Hey Red, Little Red" she grinned, entering the room and giving Sophie a quick hug. "Just poppin' in to say goodnight."

"Do you wanna stay and listen to the rest of my bedtime story, Auntie Faith?" Sophie asked. "You're in it."

"Uh.. Okay" said Faith, sitting at the little girl's other side. For some reason (Buffy said it was because she had become a big old softie, which Faith furiously denied), the Dark Slayer could never say no to Sophie. "As long as there's nothin' bad about me."

"Not really" said Willow. "I've made it all up.. kind of. But don't you have to head out on patrol soon?"

"Nah" said Faith. "Connor's gonna do it tonight to give me and B a break. He said he likes to feel useful."

"Alright then" Willow smiled before continuing. "As the years passed, Buffy and Faith both grew into beautiful young women, but their lives were still very different.."

* * *

"Ah, Giles" Lorne sighed, speaking to his dearly departed friend as he put the finishing touches on the painting of the now eighteen year-old Buffy on his cave wall. "Everyday Buffy's growing more beautiful, into a Queen who will make us all very proud one day. But.." he sighed, glancing over at another set of paintings depicting the growth of a certain child in the Outlands. "This other girl, Faith, is growing stronger, and Glory fills her heart with hate. I'm worried, Giles. I don't think this can end well." A gust of wind blew, rattling the gourds that Lorne had hung against the cave wall. "You have a plan?" the shaman asked, eyes widening. "Tell me!" The wind blew again, and one of the gourds fell to the floor, splitting in two. Lorne picked up the two pieces, then looked back at the paintings on the wall, then back turned his attention back to the gourds, noticing that the two halves fit perfectly. "Buffy and Faith, together? That's your big plan?" He took a deep breath, and then.. "Are you crazy?" The demon yelled at his deceased friend. "That would never work! And even if it did, by some crazy, miniscule chance, Willow and Glory would never allow it! You've been up there too long Giles, your head's all up in the clouds!" The wind blew again, more roughly this time, sending all of Lorne's things flying around the cave. "Okay, okay!" Lorne cried. "Okay, I get it! For the record, I still don't think this will work, but.. I trust you" the demon sighed. "I just hope you know what you're doing."

* * *

Meanwhile in the Outlands, the adult Faith, emotionless and dressed all in black, stood on a rock while Glory circled her, looking her over. The other Outsiders watched, slightly anxious.

"Nice, very nice. You have the same blackness in your soul that Wilkins had" said the hell-god, nodding approvingly, before an evil grin spread across her face. "I think you're ready, Faithy. What is your destiny?"

"To avenge Wilkins and take his place in the Sunnylands" said Faith coldly.

"Right!" Glory cackled. "And what have I taught you?"

"Willow is the enemy."

"Right again. So what do you have to do?"

"Kill her" Faith growled. The Outsiders cheered.

* * *

"Whoa, whoa, whoa" Faith frowned, interrupting the story. "It's startin' to sound an awful lot like I'm a bad guy in this story, Red."

"I don't want Auntie Faith to be a bad guy!" Sophie cried.

"She's not" said Willow, before turning to Faith. "Trust me, you're not."

"But I just.." Faith began.

"Look, you obviously haven't seen this mov.. I mean, heard this story before" Willow quickly corrected herself. "So just let me get on with it.."

* * *

Back at Sunny Rock, all the Sunnylanders were standing around the entrance of the cave, waiting for Buffy to emerge.

"Princess Buffy's first patrol" a woman named Fred sighed. "Isn't it exciting?" A first patrol was a very important event for any Slayer, and for Buffy, being a Princess, it was even more so.

"Yes, very exciting" an ensouled vampire named Angel smiled. He turned to Willow and Tara. "You two must be proud." Tara nodded, smiling, but Willow was concerned. Patrols could be dangerous. Wesley ran to Willow's side, bowing, and cleared his throat.

"Announcing the arrival of Princess Buffy for her first patrol" he smiled, gesturing towards the cave. The eighteen year-old Buffy smiled, saying a few quick hellos as she made her way through the crowd.

"Good luck" said a demon named Clem.

"You'll be great" said Angel.

"You can do it" said another Slayer named Kendra.

"It's your day" Fred smiled.

"My, how you've grown" sighed Jenny, Willow's Mother.

"You'll do fine" Tara grinned, hugging her daughter as she reached them. Buffy nodded, before turning to Willow.

"Mom, you have to promise to let me do this on my own" she said seriously.

"Well.. okay" said Willow reluctantly. "I promise." Buffy smiled and hugged her, before heading off down the rock. When both she and Tara were out of earshot, Willow once again beckoned Xander and Anya to her. "You two, make sure Buffy doesn't get hurt."

"But.." Xander frowned.

"You just promised that you were gonna let her do this on her own" Anya finished, crossing her arms.

"I know" said Willow, heading back into the cave. "And I swear, this is the last time I'll ask you to do this." Xander and Anya looked at each other, frowning, but then sighed, heading off after the Princess.

* * *

"Buffy's not gonna be happy abouts this" Sophie frowned.

"And why the hell are you B's Mom?" said Faith. "That's just weird.."


	7. The Rescue

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.

* * *

"Look, its just a story" said Willow, sighing. A story which, she thought, with Faith listening in and interrupting, may take a lot longer to finish.

"Doesn't mean it's not weird" Faith shrugged. "But whatever. Go on, Red."

"Well, Buffy's patrol was going okay, but not great, as she wasn't the most stealthy of Slayers.."

* * *

Buffy stepped on a twig, and the vamp she had been tracking fled, startled by the sound. She chased after it, but it escaped.

"Damn it!" she groaned, tucking away her stake.

* * *

Meanwhile, the now adult Warren and Cordelia were wandering around the demon graveyard (The same one where Willow and Tara had spent one very exciting, but danger-filled afternoon as children), waiting to put Glory's plan into action.

"Man" said Warren, shivering slightly. "This place is even creepier since Darla and those other two vamps left."

"Aww, are you scared, big brother?" Cordy taunted, laying some dead tree branches on the edge of one of the hot geysers that littered the area.

"No!" said Warren defensively. "I just don't see why we have to be here, that's all. If Faith is _so special_, why does she need _our_help? I never even had a chance!" He slumped down on the edge of the geyser, and his sister tried to warn him, but it was too late. A jet of fire burst out of it . "Yeeeowww!" Warren yelled, leaping up and quickly beating out the flames on his butt. Cordy smirked, then smiled as she noticed that the branches had caught fire too.

"Come on" she said picking them up, and handing one to Warren. "Buffy's already started her patrol, we have to hurry!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Anya and Xander crept through the grass, commando like, watching over Buffy as Willow had ordered.

"Tango-Charley-Alpha, what's your position?" Asked Anya, speaking into an invisible radio.

"Uh.." Xander looked himself over, confused. "Upright, and uh.. head tilted slightly to the left."

"Why do I even bother?" said Anya, rolling her eyes. Before Xander could respond, the vampire that Buffy was currently chasing ran towards them as it fled. The pair screamed, leaping out of the way.

"Anya?" Buffy frowned as she spotted them. "What are you and Xander doing here?"

"Um.. We're going shopping" Anya lied. "Thought we'd get some nice throw-pillows for the den, a little potpourri.."

"My Mother sent you" said Buffy, eyes narrowed. "Even after she promised to let me do this on my own! She lied!"

"No.." said Xander, sighing. "I mean yeah, but only because she didn't want you to get hurt."

"I should have known she'd never give me a real chance!" Buffy cried angrily, before taking off into the distance.

"Hey, where are you going?" Xander called after her.

"I'm going to do this on my own, away from the Sunnylands!"

"No, come back!" Anya cried uselessly. "Great, we lost her again! Willow is _so_ going to kill us.."

* * *

"There she is!" cried Cordy as she watched the Princess cross the border.

"Time to light some fire!" Warren grinned as he and Cordelia ran around, dragging their flaming branches over the dry grass. "Roasty toasty Princess, roasty toasty Princess!" He grinned, jumping around in a circle. "Hey, is it getting hot arond here?" Cordy rolled her eyes, noticing that her brother had managed to light a ring of fire around himself.

"Come on, you idiot!" she yelled, pulling him out of the flames before they fled to safety.

* * *

Buffy had managed to find another vampire, and chased it, until they both found themselves confronted by a wall of fire. She pushed the vamp into the flames and ran back the other way, only to find more flames. In every direction the Princess turned, she was surrounded by fire. Glory and Faith watched from their vantage point high above the growing inferno.

"The plan is in motion" Glory grinned, turning to her daughter. "Go!" Faith nodded, taking off down the slope.

* * *

"She'll be fine, Willow" said Wesley, trying to reassure the Queen, who was pacing the cave anxiously. "What could possibly happen?" Unfortunately, that was the moment that Willow chose to look up, seeing the smoke rising in the distance.

"Oh no, Buffy!" she cried in panic, before rushing off to gather the other Sunnylanders and mount a rescue. "Wesley, you run ahead and find her!"

* * *

Meanwhile, poor Buffy was becoming overwhelmed by the flames, choking on the thick black smoke. She tried to climb a rock to safety, but it was too much for her, and she fell to the ground. A dark-haired woman looming over her was the last thing she saw before losing consciousness. Faith scooped the Princess into her arms, carrying her safely away from the flames. She leapt across a large chasm, then tumbled down a hill into a pond, losing her grip on Buffy, who quickly began to sink. Faith quickly dove down, dragging the incapacitated Princess back to the surface. Wesley witnessed the rescue from a distance.

"Oh dear!" he cried, turning and heading back towards the Kingdom. "I must tell Queen Willow!" Faith pulled Buffy safely to shore, pausing for a moment to catch her breath. When she stood, preparing to carry the Princess back to Sunny Rock, she began to stir.

"Where am I?" Buffy mumbled, sitting up and rubbing her head.

"You're safely back in the Sunnylands" said Faith.

"The Sunnylands? No!" cried Buffy angrily, leaping to her feet. "Why did you bring me back here? Who do you think you are?"

"I _think_" Faith frowned, crossing her arms, "That I'm the person who just saved your life!" Yes, the rescue was staged, but she still thought Buffy could be a little more grateful.

"I had everything under control!" Buffy snapped.

"Not from where I'm standin'" Faith smirked.

"Then maybe you should move!" said Buffy. She tried to leave, but Faith moved in front of her, blocking her way. Buffy turned the other way, but Faith blocked her again. This continued for a while.

"What are you doing?" asked Faith eventually. A spark of recognition flashed in Buffy's eyes.

"Faith?" she asked, confused. Faith nodded, and even though this was all just supposed to be part of the plan, realised that the smile she gave was genuine.

"Buffy!" Willow cried, as she and the other Sunnylanders approached. She glared at Faith.

"Buffy, thank goodness you're alright!" Tara cried. Buffy hugged her then turned angrily to Willow.

"Mom, why did you break your promise?" she yelled.

"It's a good thing I did" Willow frowned. "I almost lost you. No more patrols for you, ever. I'll get Kendra to do it."

"But I was doing fine on my own!" Buffy cried. "Even before Faith.."

"Faith?" Willow growled angrily, remembering the other girl.

"Hey, you!" Lorne yelled from his cave, smirking and pointing at Faith. "How dare you save the Queen's daughter?"

"You saved her?" asked Willow, confused. "Why?"

"I was kinda hopin' that you'd let me stay in your Kingdom" Faith replied.

"No" Willow snapped immediately. "You were banished with the other Outsiders!"

"I've left those monsters" said Faith. "I'm a rogue. Judge me for what I am now.. Unless you're gonna blame me for a crime I didn't commit." Willow frowned and paced back and forth, unsure what to do.

"Willow, you owe her your daughter's life" Tara pointed out.

"Yes, and royal protocol demands that all debts be paid" said Wesley, glaring at Faith. "Although nobody would think any less of you if you decided to make an exception in this case."

"No" said Willow after a moment, shaking her head. "My fathers law will prevail. For now, I reserve judgement." She turned to Faith, eyes narrowed. "We'll see who you really are."

* * *

"I only saved B because of some evil plot, and I'm _not_ a bad guy?" Faith frowned, interrupting again.

"It does kinda seems like Auntie Faith's a bad guy" said Sophie, crossing her arms.

"Both of you" Willow sighed, "Please, just listen..

* * *

The group, Faith now included, headed back to Sunny Rock. Faith tried to follow them into the cave, but Willow blocked her way, scowling. Faith settled down outside the cave, unworried. What did a few nights outside matter when all the Sunnylands were going to be hers soon?

"Hey" Buffy smiled, sneaking back out of the cave. "I could have handled it myself, but.. thanks for saving me today."

"What kind of Slayer are you, Princess?" Faith smirked. "You almost got yourself killed out there."

"What?" Buffy frowned.

"Face it, B" Faith chuckled, "You couldn't last three days on your own."

"And I suppose you could teach me?" said Buffy, annoyed.

"Well, yeah" Faith grinned.

"Buffy!" Willow called.

"Coming, Mom!" she yelled back, before turning to Faith. "Okay then, impress me. We'll start tomorrow at dawn."

"I'll look forward to it" Faith smiled.

* * *

"Maybe this story won't be so bad after all" the real Faith grinned, mirroring her fictional self.


	8. Nightmare

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.

* * *

"Glad you think so" Willow smiled. "Now, Glory's plan seemed to be going well, but not all the members of Faith's family were quite as impressed.."

* * *

"Did you see that?" Warren gasped, he and Glory watching from a distance as Buffy headed back into the cave. "She let her go! If that had been me, I.."

"Shut up" said Glory, glaring at him. "Faith pulled off the fire rescue without a hitch, and Willow fell for it! And now, the closer she gets to Willow's daughter, the closer she gets to Willow, and when she gets Willow alone.." The hell-god drew a finger across her throat, laughing evilly.

* * *

"I'm really not a bad guy?" asked Faith, raising an eyebrow.

"No" said Willow, beginning to become very frustrated. "Later that night, Willow tossed and turned in her sleep, having a terrible nightmare.."

* * *

_Giles was dangling helplessly from the cliff above the stampeding cattle, while Willow desperately tried to reach him._

_"Willow!" Giles cried. "Willow, help me!"_

_"Daddy!" she yelled. She moved a little further down the cliff, her father still just out of reach. "Daddy, just a little further.." She heard an evil laugh from behind her, and looked up to see Wilkins looming over them._

_"Willow!" Giles cried again, before losing his grip and falling into the gorge._

_"Nooooooooooooooo!" Willow screamed. The next thing she knew she was dangling over the cliff herself, with Wilkins grinning evilly down at her, still laughing. But then Wilkins began to change, morphing into.. "Faith?" The girl emitted her own evil laugh as she threw Willow down after her father. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"_

* * *

Willow woke, covered in a cold sweat. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, then snuggled closer to Tara who was still sleeping peacefully beside her, before eventually drifting back to sleep herself.

* * *

When Faith woke the next morning, she stretched to rid her body of the slight stiffness that had come from sleeping out in the cold, then headed off to the waterhole located a short distance from Sunny Rock. When the Outsider noticed that Willow was already there, she hid behind a nearby rock, scowling. She was just about to attack, when..

* * *

"Oh, come on!" Faith yelled, interrupting yet again. "I'm about to try and freakin' kill you, Red! How am I not a bad guy?"

"Maybe you'll find out if you just shut up and listen to the story!" Willow snapped. She regretted this almost instantly when Sophie looked at her with wide frightened eyes. "I'm sorry sweetie" she sighed, stroking her daughter's hair. "I shouldn't have yelled. But Faith" she said, turning to her friend, "Could you _please_ try to stop interrupting?"

"Okay" said Faith. "I promise to stop cuttin' in as much."

"Thank you" Willow smiled. "So, Faith was just about to attack, when.."

* * *

.. Buffy suddenly leapt in front of her.

"Good morning!" she grinned, looking entirely too bubbly for the early hour. "I'm ready for my first lesson. Surprised you, huh?" Faith just looked over Buffy's shoulder, frowning when she realised that Willow was gone. "Don't just stand there" Buffy chuckled, running off. "Come on!" Faith, angry that her attempt on Willow's life had been thwarted, growled at the place she had been, before taking off after Buffy.

* * *

"That doesn't sounds so good" said Sophie, frowning.


	9. Fun

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.

* * *

"Don't worry, it get's better soon" said Willow.

"I sure hope so.." Faith mumbled. Willow frowned at her before continuing.

"Buffy's first Slaying lesson went about as well as her patrol, meaning, not that great.."

* * *

A little while later, Faith sat lounging on a rock in the Sun.

"Three, two, one.." she whispered to herself. Buffy leapt out of the bushes in full attack mode, but Faith quickly dodged out of the way.

"You could hear me, huh?" Buffy sighed.

"Only.. a lot" Faith smirked. "You're still breathing too hard. You've got to relax, B, really feel the earth under your feet, so it doesn't shift and make noise." She smirked as a flock of birds landed just over a nearby hill. "Let a master show you how it's done." Faith ran up the hill silently, then down the other side, stake drawn, into the field the birds had landed in, and where Anya happened to be foraging.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Anya screamed when she spotted Faith, slightly startling the Outsider. "Please don't kill me! I never met your tyrant.. I mean, Wilkins! Heck of a guy, a little moody maybe, but.."

"Anya, what are you doing here?" asked Buffy suspiciously as she made her way over to them.

"Oh Buffy, thank goodness!" cried Anya, relieved. "And for once, we're not following you. This place just happens to be the best smorgasbord in the Kingdom, bugs everywhere! But, if you don't make a reservation.." she sighed, gesturing to the birds pecking around everywhere, and trying to get rid of them. "Get lost you scavengers, shoo!" One bird fluttered up and bit Anya on the nose. Xander suddenly rushed across the field, yelling and scattering the birds, but hey returned just a few seconds later. One of them landed on his head.

"Man, I'm getting tired guys" he panted. "I need to lose some pounds." The cyclops glanced at Faith, thinking for a moment. "Hey, maybe she could help."

"Oh sure" said Anya sarcastically. "Let the vicious outsider.." the demon paused, a smile spreading over her face. "I know, what if she helps?"

"I just said that" Xander frowned.

"So, wanna lend a hand?" Anya asked Faith. "Come on, work with me! Use that, uh.. Slayerness."

"Huh?" said Faith, confused.

"Guess it's time for me to give you a lesson, Faith" Buffy smirked. "Watch and learn." The Princess ran into the crowd of birds yelling loudly to frighten them away.

"Yeah!" Xander cheered. "Do it again!"

"You have a go" said Buffy, turning to Faith. The Outsider hesitated for a moment, then mirrored the Princess's actions, scattering the birds yet again.

"Yee-haa!" shouted Anya, jumping on Xander's back as they chased the birds further downhill. Buffy grinned, following them and gesturing for Faith to do the same.

"Why are we doin' this, B?" asked Faith, confused. "What's the point of this training?"

"Training?" Buffy laughed. "This is just for fun!"

"Fun?" Faith frowned, as though the word was new to her.

"Gee, you've got to get out more often!" Anya chuckled, still being piggybacked by Xander. "Fun! Yee-haa!"

"Yee-haa.." Faith tried, slightly unsure at first, but then her confidence grew, and she sped faster down the hill. "Yee-haa!" She collapsed into a full-blown fit of laughter. "YEE-HAA!" Then, they skidded to a stop, just short of crashing into the gang of angry looking Fyarl demons on which the birds had perched themselves.

"Uh-oh" said Xander. Faith, who had never seen a Fyarl in the Outlands, froze in panic.

"Faith, move!" cried Buffy, grabbing the other girl's arm and dragging her away as the angry demons gave chase. The group fled, managing to keep just ahead of the demons. They turned a corner and squeezed into a tight crevice in the side of a rock, laughing when the Fyarl's passed by, oblivious.

"Wow, that was a blast!" Faith grinned.

"Sorry" said Xander, embarassed. His three female companions erupted into laughter again.

"You know what? You're okay, kid" Anya chuckled, giving Faith a noogie. She and Xander squeezed out of the crevice, and it was then that Buffy and Faith realised how tight a squeeze getting in had really been. There was barely a millimetre between their faces, and when Buffy moved, her lips unintentionally brushed against Faith's.

"Sorry!" she cried in embarrassment, blushing as she scrambled out of the crevice. "Sorry about that, um.." Faith squeezed out after her, and they stood in uncomfortable silence for a few moments, until Anya called out to them.

"Hey, are you two coming or what?" she yelled, breaking the awkwardness. Buffy and Faith smiled, then followed their friends.

* * *

Faith spent a fun-filled day with Buffy and her friends, and it soon got to a point where the Outsider almost forgot that their friendship was just supposed to be a part of Glory's evil plan. It also seemed that her feelings for the Princess were growing into more than just friendship. That night, the two of them laid together in a grassy field, looking up at the stars and pointing out pictures they thought they could see in them.

"Look, there's a bunny!" Buffy laughed, pointing. "Good thing Anya's not here."

"Yeah" Faith grinned, remembering a bunny encounter with the demon earlier that day. "Hey, that looks like two vampires killin' each other for a drop of blood!" Buffy gave Faith a strange look, and she began to feel embarassed. "I've, uh.. never done this before."

"Really?" asked Buffy, surprised. She looked back to the stars. "My Mom and I used to do this all the time when I was young. She says that the great Kings and Queens of the past watch over us from up there."

"Do you think Wilkins is up there?" Faith asked. When Buffy fell silent, she sighed, standing up and taking a few steps away. "He wasn't my father, but he was still.. a part of me." Buffy moved to stand beside her.

"My Mom said that there was a.. a darkness in Wilkins that he couldn't escape."

"Maybe there's a darkness in me too" said Faith sadly.

"I don't think so" Buffy whispered. She closed her hand over Faith's, then turned the other girl to face her, kissing her softly.

* * *

"Now it's gettin' good" Faith grinned.

"Uh-huh" Sophie agreed.


	10. Upendi

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.

* * *

"Better, yes, but not quite 'good' yet" Willow chuckled. "Because you two have to remember, Willow still wasn't that happy about having Faith in her Kingdom.."

* * *

Willow stood watching her daughter from the top of Sunny Rock, frowning, before she too looked to the stars.

"Daddy, I'm lost" she sighed. "Faith is one of them.. Wilkins' heir. How can I accept her?"

"Willow?" said a voice from behind her. The Queen turned, slightly embarassed, to see Tara approaching.

"I was seeking advice from the great Kings and Queens" she explained.

"Did they say anything helpful?" Tara asked.

"Silent as stars" Willow replied, sighing. "My father never.."

"Willow" Tara chuckled, laying her head on her wife's shoulder. "Sometimes I think you worry too much about what your father would have done. Ever since the day you came back here you've been trying to make up for leaving the first place, I understand that. You want so much to follow the path that's expected of you. But.. Maybe Faith doesn't."

"How did you know what I was.." Willow began.

"I'm not blind, Will" Tara grinned. "I can see them down there as well as you can. You should talk to Faith, get to know her before you make up your mind."

* * *

At first, Faith had been startled when Buffy kissed her, but she soon relaxed and kissed her back. But then she finally remembered what she was supposed to be doing in the Sunnylands, and pulled away.

"What's wrong?" Buffy frowned.

"Nothin'" said Faith, taking a few steps back. "It's nothin'."

"Faith.." said Buffy, concerned.

"You wouldn't get it, B" said Faith sadly. "My whole life I've been trained to.. Nevermind. I should go." Yes, that was exactly what she should do. She should go away, far away, where Glory couldn't find her and make her hurt Buffy or the people she cared about. It had taken Glory so long to come up with this plan, and the Sunnylands would be safe for as long as it took her to form another.

"Faith, wait!" Buffy called after her. The Outsider hesitated for a second, then sighed and continued on, until a certain green demon shaman suddenly popped up in front of her.

"And just where do you think you're going?"

"Uh.. nowhere" said Faith, startled by the demon's sudden appearance.

"That's what you think" Lorne smirked, disappearing into the grass again.

"B" Faith frowned as the other girl caught up to her, "Who's the creepy demon guy?"

"Old friend of the family" Buffy chuckled.

"Your family has some weird friends.." Faith mumbled. Suddenly, Lorne appeared on a rock just ahead of them.

"Come on!" he yelled, gesturing for the two girls to follow as he rushed off. "Follow old Lorne, he knows the way!"

"Faith, come on!" Buffy chuckled, taking Faith's hand and following the demon.

"Where's he takin' us?" asked Faith, slightly worried, as they ran along behind him.

"To a special place in your heart.." Lorne chuckled, gently pushing the two Slayer's faces together until their lips met in a kiss, "Called Upendi!" They entered a rainforest with a beautiful river flowing through it. Lorne pushed the girls onto a giant leaf that floated by, using it as a boat, then jumped on behind them, using his staff to paddle.

Lorne:_** T****here's a place where the crazy moon**_

**_Makes the demons sing and the humans swoon,_**

**_And the sultry scent of the lotus bloom,_**

**_Will carry you away._**

**_Where the werewolves swing from the jungle vines,_**

**_And the Watchers rumba in a conga line!_**

Buffy had a chuckle at the visuals these words brought up, but Faith was feeling a little uncomfortable with the situation.

**_And the souls of Slayers are entertwined,_**

**_As the stars come out to play!_**

**_In Upendi,_**

**_Where the passionfruit grows sweet,_**

Lorne plucked two fruits off of a tree as they floated under it, offering one to Faith, who declined, and Buffy, who took and ate it happily.

**_And its so divine _**

**_That you'll lose your mind,_**

**_As it sweeps you off your feet!_**

**_In Upendi,_**

**_Without a worry or a care,_**

**_It just takes two, _**

**_To make it true,_**

**_Your heart will lead you there!_**

"But where is it?" asked Buffy, confused.

"No place you don't take with you" Lorne chuckled.

_**Better watch your step 'cause the path is steep,**_

"Uh, Mr. Demon guy.." said Faith, slightly panicked when she looked ahead.

_**Better hold your breath 'cause the water's deep**_

"B, he's rowin' us straight towards that waterfall!" Faith cried. Buffy just laughed, leaning into Faith's side as their leaf boat slipped over the edge of said waterfall.

**_It's a long way down over Lover's leap, _**

**_But falling's half the fun!_**

**_In Upendi,_**

**_Where the passionfruit grows sweet,_**

**_And it's so divine, _**

**_That you'll lose your mind,_**

**_As it sweeps you off your feet!_**

A fruit fell right into Faith's mouth, and she struggled to swallow it, until Buffy gave her a kiss on the cheek. She swallowed and relaxed, smiling, and finally starting to enjoy herself.

**_In Upendi,_**

**_Without a worry or a care,_**

**_It just takes two,_**

**_To make it true,_**

**_Your heart will lead you there!_**

**_You can beat the bush like there's no tomorrow,_**

**_From Tanganyika to Kilimanjaro,_**

**_But you'll find Upendi wherever you are,_**

**_Oh underneath the Sun!_**

"Upendi means love, doesn't it?" asked Buffy, catching on.

"We have a winner!" Lorne cried, laughing. "Welcome to Upendi!" Buffy smiled and joined in with the song.

Buffy & Lorne: _**In Upendi,**_

**_Where the passionfruit grows sweet,_**

**_And it's so divine that you'll lose your mind,_**

**_As it sweeps you off your feet!_**

Buffy nudged Faith, looking at the other girl with slightly pleading eyes, so she couldn't help but sing too.

Buffy and Faith: _**In Upendi,**_

**_Without a worry or a care,_**

**_It just takes two,_**

**_To make it true,_**

_**Your heart will lead you there!**_

Lorne stopped the leaf-boat at the river bank, letting the two girls off. They headed back towards Sunny Rock, arm in arm.

Buffy: _**In Upendi..**_

Faith: _**In Upendi..**_

* * *

"I liked that part" Sophie giggled.


	11. The Ambush

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.

* * *

"Glad to hear it, sweetie" Willow smiled. "What did you think, Faith?"

"That bit was okay, I guess.." said Faith, slightly embarassed.

"Good" Willow grinned. "Now, where were we.."

* * *

Before long, Buffy and Faith arrived back at Sunny Rock.

"Goodnight" Buffy whispered, giving her new love a quick kiss.

"Goodnight" Faith smiled. Buffy headed back into the cave, turning back to sigh dreamily at Faith one more time along the way. Willow saw this, and frowned, until she remembered her earlier conversation with Tara. She sighed, then walked out onto Sunny Rock, stopping beside the young Outsider as she settled down for the night.

"Hey."

"Oh, uh, hey" said Faith, surprised to find the Queen talking to her.

"It's pretty cold out tonight, huh?" Willow asked.

"A little.." Faith admitted.

"Come on in" Willow smiled, gesturing for the girl to follow her into the cave. Faith did just that, smiling.

* * *

Down in the grassy fields below Sunny Rock, Cordelia had been watching the whole time.

"Yes!" she'd grinned, when she'd seen her sister alone with the Queen. "Get her!" Her smile began to fade a little when Faith failed to attack Willow, and faded further when she followed her into the cave. "Go on Faith, get her!" Cordy sighed as her sister disappeared from view. She didn't blame her really. If she'd had a choice.. she stopped, shaking her head. Those thoughts would lead her nowhere. All she could do now was go back to the Outlands and tell Glory what Faith had done.

* * *

"Are you sure?" Glory frowned, after Cordelia told her what he had seen.

"Yes" said Cordy sadly. "I saw it with my own eyes."

"No!" Glory growled. "Faith cannot betray us! If she is not up to the task, maybe it's time for us to take matters into our own hands!" Warren and the other Outsiders cheered, but Cordelia realised that a part of her, an increasingly large part, was feeling guilty, and beginning to wish that she'd just kept her big mouth shut.

* * *

The next morning, Faith paced nervously back and forth over Sunny Rock.

"Okay, how am I gonna do this.." she sighed, before beginning to rehearse her words. "Buffy, Glory had this plot, and I was a part of it, but I don't wanna be, at least not anymore, because I love you.." The Outsider let out a defeated sigh. "Damn it, she'll never believe me! But she deserves the truth." Faith braced herself as she saw the smiling Buffy walking out of the cave towards her. "B, I really need to talk to you about somethin'.."

"Buffy, I don't want you talking to her!" Willow yelled sternly as she emerged from the cave. Buffy glared at her Mother, preparing to argue, and Faith was worried that the Queen had uncovered Glory's evil plan, until Willow's face broke into a large smile. "_I_ want to talk to her for a while."

* * *

Willow and Faith strolled through the Sunnylands together, eventually reaching the area that had been ravaged by the fire a few days before, the air still cloudy with dust. As they walked, Willow told the girl about Wilkins, as she had known him.

"Wilkins couldn't let go of his hate, and in the end, it destroyed him" she explained.

"I.. I've never heard the story of Wilkins that way before" said Faith sadly. "He really was a killer."

"Fire is a killer too" said Willow. "But sometimes, what's left behind can grow back better than the generation before.." the Queen bent down, brushing away some ashes to reveal a small seedling growing beneath them. "If you give it the chance." Faith smiled, until she heard an evil laugh from the dust around them.

"Oh no, no, no, no" she panicked as Glory and the other Outsiders emerged.

"Glory" Willow growled.

"Why Willow" Glory grinned evilly. "What are you doing all the way out here, and so alone?" Her grin widened as she turned to her youngest daughter. "Well done, Faith. Just as we planned all along."

"You!" Willow yelled angrily, glaring at Faith.

"No!" Faith cried, backing away. "I had nothin' to do with this!"

"Attack!" Glory ordered. The Outsiders charged at Willow, who was soon struggling to fight them off.

"No!"Faith cried again. She rushed to help the Queen, but Glory brutally shoved her away into a nearby rock, knocking the girl unconscious.

* * *

"I'm not likin' this, Red" Faith frowned.

"Me either" Sophie pouted.


	12. Death Of An Outsider

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.

* * *

"Sophie, remember what I told you with the 'Tara and the Witch' story?" asked Willow.

"You can't ignores all the nots so good parts of a story just because they happen right after the really good parts" Sophie repeated, sighing.

"Well, that's a load of.." Faith began, but quickly shut up when Willow glared at her. Nodding her approval of Faith's silence, the red-haired witch went on with the story.

* * *

Willow was to busy fighting off the other Outsiders to notice that poor Faith had been trying to help her before she had been knocked out. The Outsiders sent the Queen tumbling down the side of a nearby ravine, rushing down after her when they saw that she had survived the fall.

"Yes, we've got her!" cried Glory, as she and the other Outsiders pursued Willow. "Remember your training, as a unit!" They soon had the Queen pinned against a large log dam. It was a very high, unstable looking structure, but it was Willow's only hope of escape, so she desperately began to climb it.

Meanwhile, Faith regained consciousness, and, after her mind cleared and she remembered what had happened, she rushed to the edge of the ravine.

"Willow!" she cried in horror, just as the Queen had climbed about half way up the dam.

"Get her, Faith, get her!" Glory shrieked. "Do it now!" Faith shook her head, rushing off in search of a spot from which she could more easily help Willow.

"I'll do it for you, Mother!" yelled Warren, scrambling up the logs after Willow. "I'm doing it for you, and" he added under his breath with an evil chuckle, "I'm doing it for me."

"Warren, stop!" cried Cordelia in panic. "Get down from there, the logs are too unstable!"

"Quiet!" Glory snapped at her daughter, before looking back up at Warren with an evil grin on her face. "Maybe that brother of yours isn't totally useless afterall."

"This will be my moment of triumph!" Warren yelled, making a grab for Willow's ankle as she reached the top of the dam. He almost caught her, but missed, as the injured Queen made a final leap for safety, pulling herself up onto the edge of the ravine and limping off in the direction of Sunny Rock. Unfortunately, Willow's jump had loosened some of the logs, causing a great number of them to fall, crushing Warren. Glory emitted a sudden scream of anguish. She rushed forward, pushing the logs aside until she found her son, pulling him free and cradling his dying body in her arms as Cordelia and the other Outsiders looked on.

"Warren.." she said sadly.

"I'm sorry, Mother" said Warren, taking a deep, rattling breath. "I.. I tried." He took one last breath, then fell limp. The Outsiders bowed their heads in mourning. Tears began to stream down poor Cordelia's cheeks as she wept for the loss of her older brother. She couldn't shake the feeling that, if she had never given Faith away to their Mother, then this whole tragic escapade may never have happened. Glory would never have concocted this evil plan, Faith could have been happy for at least a little while longer, and Warren wouldn't have died.

* * *

"Who cares?" said Faith with a frown. While she didn't know much about the real Warren, she knew the basics, and they alone were enough to make her hate him. "I say good riddance."

"Yeah" Sophie agreed.


	13. She Is Not One Of Us

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.

* * *

"I can't argue with you on that one" said Willow. To her, Warren represented not only the person who had once taken Tara from her, but also the person she had been when she became Dark Willow, a person she never wanted to be again.

"Are you okay, Mommy Willow?" Sophie frowned. Willow shook her head, ridding herself of those negative thoughts.

"I'm fine, Sweetie. But the Willow in our story was hurt pretty badly.."

* * *

Buffy was goofing around at the bottom of Sunny Rock with Xander and Anya, when she suddenly spotted her Mother in the distance limping towards them, before collapsing forward onto the ground.

"Mom!" she cried in panic, running and dropping to her knees by the injured Willow's side, Xander and Anya close behind her.

"Willow, speak to me!" cried Anya, shaking the Queen by the shoulders.

"What happened to you?" asked Xander, worried.

"Faith.. Ambush" Willow groaned, before slipping out of consciousness.

"No.." Buffy gasped and backed away, unable to believe it. Xander gently scooped Willow into his arms, just as he had done when he and Anya had found her in the desert as a child, and carried her back towards Sunny Rock.

"It's okay, Will, we're here for you" he whispered.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the ravine, the Outsiders continued to mourn for Warren. Faith reluctantly slipped in among the group, laying a hand on Cordelia's shoulder.

"Wilkins, take care of my Warren" Glory whispered to the sky, before turning angrily to Faith. "You!" she shrieked, swiping her sharp nails across her daughter's cheek. Cordy yelped in surprise, while Faith cried out in pain, then glared at her Mother. The Hell-god gasped when she realised that her actions had given Faith a cut across her cheek that perfectly mirrored Wilkins' scar, but quickly recovered. "What have you done?"

"I.. I didn't mean to, It wasn't my fault, I.." Faith frowned, realising that Glory was playing her again. "I didn't do anythin'!"

"Exactly!" Glory snapped. "And in doing nothing, you betrayed your family, betrayed Wilkins!"

"I want nothin more to do with him!" Faith yelled.

"You can't escape it!" the hell-god yelled. "Warren is dead because of you!"

"No!" Faith cried.

"You killed your own brother!"

"No!" Faith screamed, before turning away from her Mother and taking off into the distance.

"Faith, wait!" Cordy cried, about to follow her sister.

"Leave her!" Glory snapped.

"But.."

"Willow has hurt me for the last time! Now she has corrupted Faith!" Glory growled, ignoring Cordelia and turning her attention to the other Outsiders. "Listen to me. Willow is weak, now is the time to attack! We will take her Kingdom by force!" The Outsiders cheered, all except for Cordelia, who sighed. She felt as though she had just lost both her big brother _and_ her little sister, and was beginning to doubt very much whether her Mother's desire for revenge and control over the Sunnylands was worth it.

* * *

Meanwhile in the cave at Sunny Rock, as Tara, Xander, and Anya nursed her, Willow began to stir.

"Mom, it can't be true!" cried Buffy as soon as Willow had fully regained consciousness. "Faith would never.." Before Buffy could finish, a rush of whispers were heard at the bottom of Sunny Rock, where the Sunnylanders had all gathered to await news of their Queen's condition. Faith was nervously making her way towards Sunny Rock.

"It's Faith!" cried a nerdy boy named Andrew.

"How dare she come back here" said Angel with a low growl. The crowd continued to whisper as they parted to let Faith through.

"She doesn't belong here" muttered Kendra.

"Look at that scar!" gasped Fred.

"Just like Wilkins" added Jenny.

"Faith!" cried Buffy happily, running towards her as she reached the top of the rock. Willow suddenly found her strength, leaping between them angrily.

"Why I oughta.." said Anya, shaking her fist. She put the hem of her shirt in Xander's hand. "Here, hold me back!"

"Okay" said Xander.

"Let me at her, let me at her!" cried Anya, mock struggling against Xander's grip.

"Okay" said Xander, releasing Anya's shirt.

"I think you're missing the basic point here" Anya frowned, crossing her arms.

"Uh.." said Xander, confused.

"Why have you come back?" Willow growled, glaring at Faith.

"Willow, you've got to believe me, I had nothin' to do with.." Faith began.

"You don't belong here!" Willow snapped.

"Please, forgive me" Faith begged.

"Mom, please, listen to her!" Buffy cried, before turning to Tara. "Mama, make her listen!"

"Willow" said Tara gently, "Maybe you should give Faith a chance to.."

"Silence!" Willow yelled, then turned back to Faith, scowling. "Faith, when you first came here you asked for judgement, and I pass it now.."

"No!" cried Buffy. Tara was worried too, thinking that her wife may be being too hasty in making her decision. The other Sunnylanders had no such worries.

"Kick her out!" yelled Clem.

"Give her what she deserves!" cried Fred.

"Judgement day has come!" shouted Kendra.

"EXILE!" Willow roared.

"No!" Buffy screamed. She tried once again to run to Faith, but two Slayers blocked her way. "Faith!" she cried. The other Sunnylanders cheered, clapping and stamping their feet in approval of the Outsider's punishment. Faith began to back away nervously as the Sunnylanders turned on her.

Angel: _**Deception!**_

**_Disgrace!_**

**_Evil as plain as the scar on her face!_**

Kendra: _**Deception!**_

Sunnylanders: _**And outrage!**_

Kendra: _**Disgrace!**_

Faith looked around desperately for any sign of support, finding none.

Sunnylanders: _**For shame!**_

Clem: _**She asked for trouble the moment she came!**_

Faith was forced to flee down the rock as the Sunnylanders attacked, aiming to drive her out of the Sunnylands.

Angel: _**Deception!**_

Sunnylanders: _**An outrage!**_

Kendra: _**Evil as plain as the scar on her face!**_

Fred: _**See you later, agitator!**_

Angel:**_ Deception!_**

Sunnylanders:**_ An outrage!_**

Angel:**_ Disgrace!_**

Sunnylanders: _**For shame!**_

Clem: _**She asked for trouble the moment she came!**_

Willow looked on emotionlessly as Faith fled, a flock of birds attacking her as she ran.

Sunnylanders: _**Born in grief, **_

_**Raised in hate,**_

_**Helpless to defy her fate.**_

_**Let her run, **_

_**Let her live,**_

_**But do not forget what we cannot forgive!**_

_**She is not one of us,**_

_**She has never been one of us.**_

Buffy made it past the Slayers, but more came to block her way.

_**She is not part of us, **_

**_Not our kind._**

Faith caught her reflection in the lake gasping as it morphed into Wilkins, then continued to run.

_**Someone once lied to us,**_

**_Now we're not so blind!_**

**_For we knew she would do what she's done,_**

**_And we know that she'll never be one of us!_**

Jenny: _**She is not one of us!**_

Buffy sobbed as she watched Faith flee the Sunnylands.

Angel: _**Deception**_

Kendra: _**Disgrace**_

Fred: _**Deception**_

Angel: **_Deception_**

"Oh no.." Lorne sighed sadly, having seen the whole thing from his tree.

* * *

"This story is a load of.." Faith gulped at Willow's glare. "Poop" she quickly corrected herself.

"Yeah" Sophie agreed. "Poop."


	14. Love Will Find A Way

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.

* * *

"Why do you say that?" Willow frowned.

"Well" said Faith, "Just when it seemed like things were startin' to go good, it all turns to.."

"Poop" Sophie repeated.

"Yeah, what the kid said" Faith agreed.

"Well, don't worry" said Willow, "Because it really _is_ going to get better in this part."

"I sure as hell hope so" said Faith. Willow rolled her eyes, then continued.

"After she got over the shock of what had happened, Buffy's first instinct was to go and look for Faith, but Willow was having none of it..."

* * *

"Mom, please reconsider.." Buffy begged.

"You will not go anywhere without an escort from now on!" Willow growled, knowing what her daughter probably planned to do.

"That's not fair!"

"She used you to get to me!"

"No!" Buffy cried. "Faith loves me, for me!"

"Because you are _my_ daughter!" Willow snapped. "You will not leave Sunny Rock, Buffy. You will stay where I can keep an eye on you.. away from her!

"You don't know her!" Buffy yelled.

"I know that she's following in Wilkins' footsteps" said Willow, "And I must follow in my Father's..."

"You will _never_ be Giles!" Buffy screamed, before running away into the cave. Willow was stung into silence. She turned to Tara, who had suddenly found her feet very interesting. She was normally completely supportive of the queen's decisions, but this time she was still not entirely sure that her wife had made the right one.

* * *

Buffy slumped on the floor of an abandoned part of the cave, where she sometimes went to escape the pressures of being Willow's only heir, and sobbed. But then, she noticed a small beam of the last of the days sunlight shining down from a hole higher up in the cave. A large pile of rocks laid between Buffy and freedom, but they were nothing to a slayer, and she climbed them quickly. Xander and Anya, who had once again been charged with the task of watching the Princess, arrived just in time to see her foot disappear through the hole.

"Willow really has to stop giving us this job" said Anya. "It never ends well."

* * *

"Faith?" Buffy called, following the path that she had seen her love take when she fled. "Faith, it's me!" She stopped to peer into the lake in which Faith had seen her reflection, and found that her own reflection was distorted somehow, as though half of it was missing. Buffy looked up hopefully as she heard a rustle in the bushes. "Faith?" she smiled. Unfortunately, it was only a frog. Buffy sighed, reflecting on the time she and Faith had spent together as she continued to search for her.

Buffy: _**In a perfect world,**_

**_One we've never known,_**

**_We would never need,_**

**_To face the world alone._**

**_They can have the world,_**

**_We'll create our own._**

**_I may not be brave, or strong, or smart,_**

**_But somewhere in my secret heart,_**

Buffy looked up, allowing herself a small smile as she spotted the bunny and vampire shaped clouds they had seen the night before.

_**I know,**_

**_Love will find a way._**

**_Anywhere I go,_**

**_I'm home, _**

**_If you are there beside me._**

Buffy walked along by a stream that ran to the lake, and flopped onto a log that lay beside it, sighing sadly. She peered into the water, seeing that her reflection was still half missing.

_**Like dark,**_

**_Turning into day,_**

**_Somehow we'll come through,_**

**_Now that I've found you,_**

**_Love will find a way._**

Hiding a short distance away, Faith had spotted Buffy, but hesitated. Then she shook her head, realising that if Buffy had come looking for her, then she must believe her, and still want to be with her. She smiled, quietly creeping up behind the Princess.

Faith: _**I was so afraid,**_

**_Now I realise, _**

**_Love is never wrong,_**

**_And so it never dies._**

**_There's a perfect world,_**

**_Shining in your eyes._**

Faith gave a small chuckle as she let her foot purposely snap a twig, as she had tried to teach Buffy not to do in their Slaying lesson, to alert the Princess to her presence. Buffy turned and beamed, running into Faith's open arms and kissing her passionately.

Buffy & Faith: _**And if only they could feel it too,**_

**_The happiness I feel with you,_**

**_They'd know, _**

**_Love will find a way._**

**_Anywhere we go,_**

**_We're home,_**

**_If we are there together._**

**_Like dark,_**

**_Turning into day._**

**_Somehow we'll come through,_**

**_Now that I've found you,_**

**_Love will find a way._**

**_I know love will find a way._**

Two butterflies flittered around the two lovers, and Faith, laughing, began to chase them. Buffy chased after Faith, tackling her to the ground, and they wrestled playfully by the stream until they caught sight of their reflections, which appeared to fit together perfectly, completing each other.

"Look, B" Faith smiled. "We are one."

"What?" Buffy gasped, slightly shocked, as she remembered the conversation that she had had with her Mother as a child. Faith didn't here this, as she had got to her feet and started making plans.

"Let's get out of here, B" she said. "We can run away together, and build our own Kingdom!"

"We can't, Faith" Buffy sighed. "We have to go back."

"You've got to be kiddin' me" said Faith, face falling. Buffy shook her head. "But we're finally together!"

"Our place is with our family" said Buffy, taking Faith's hands in her own. "If we run away, they'll be divided forever." Faith frowned, not entirely convinced. Then she grinned, taking off in the dirction of Sunny Rock.

"Race you back, B!"

"You're on!" Buffy laughed, running after her.

* * *

"You like that part, Faith?" Willow smirked as she caught the goofy grin on the Dark Slayer's face. Faith jumped, startled, and tried to put on as plain a face as possible.

"It was okay, I guess" she said, slightly embarassed.


	15. Battle For The Sunnylands

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.

* * *

Willow playfully teased Faith a little longer, until her unimpressed daughter intervened.

"Mommy Willow!" Sophie complained, "Hurry up and get on with the story!"

"Okay, okay" Willow laughed. "Back at Sunny Rock, Xander and Anya were worrying about how they were going to explain to Willow that they had lost Buffy yet again.."

* * *

"I can't believe we lost her, again!" cried Anya, panicking. "This has to be the eight hundredth time!"

"I know" said Xander, pacing worriedly back and forth. "I hope she's okay.."

"Well, you were the one who was supposed to watch her!" said Anya, glaring at Xander accusingly.

"Me?" Xander frowned. "You said you were gonna watch her!"

"No, you were gonna watch her!" Anya snapped.

"Why do you always blame me?" Xander yelled. "This is your fault!"

"No, it's your fault!"

"Your fault!"

"No, yours!"

"Yours!"

"Yours!"

"Yours!"

"It's your fault, you chubby cyclops!" Anya shouted.,]

"Take that back" Xander growled, eye narrowed.

"No!" Anya snapped.

"I said take it back!" Xander lunged at Anya, but she quickly moved out of the way, blowing a rasberry at him.

"Chubby, chubby, chubby!" she taunted in a sing-song voice. Xander lunged again, this time knocking Anya to the ground, before Willow appeared, chuckling.

"Uh.. what are you two doing?"

"Good question" said Anya, as she and Xander leapt to their feet, dusting themselves off. "Now let us ask you one."

"It's hypothetical.." Xander began.

_"Very_ hypothetical" agreed Anya. "See, there's this girl.."

"But she's not a wicca" added Xander.

"No, not a wicca.." said Anya quickly, glaring at him. Willow crossed her arms impatiently. "Definitely not a wicca. And let's say she had a daughter and uh.. um.. her daughter.. uh.. vanished?"

"Buffy's gone?" yelled Willow in horror. She sped off, intending to start searching for her daughter right a way, but was cut off by Wesley running into the cave in an enormous panic.

"Your Majesty, the Outsiders are on the attack!" The Watcher wailed. "It's war!" The Queen immediately sprang into action.

"Wesley, you go find Buffy" she ordered. The Watcher obeyed, rushing off. "And you two," Xander and Anya jumped to attention, saluting. "Help me gather the other Sunnylanders, come on!"

* * *

"Oh no" said Buffy as she and Faith rushed towards the Sunnylands, spotting their two families marching angrily towards each other, meeting on the same rocky outcrop from which Faith had earlier been forced to watch helplessly as the Outsiders attacked Willow.

"Don't panic yet, B" Faith yelled over the roar of the storm that had blown up around them. "There's still time, we just have to hurry!"

* * *

Already drenched in rain, the Sunnylanders and Outsiders stared each other down, ready for battle. Then, Xander and Anya pulled their pants down, mooning the Outsiders.

"Nah, nah, nah nah, nah!" they teased, waving their butts in the air. Tara was trying very hard not to laugh, but Willow was too busy facing off with Glory to pay attention to them.

"Your reign ends now, Willow!" the Hell-God cackled. "I've dreamt of nothing else for years!"

"Boy, does she need a hobby" said Anya, rolling her eyes.

"Last chance, Glorificus" Willow growled. "Go home!"

"I _am_ home!" Glory roared, over the booming thunder and flashing lightning. "Attack!"

* * *

"We're too late!" cried Buffy in despair, as the two sides charged.

"No!" yelled Faith, shaking her head. Buffy was right, this feud had gone on long enough, and she wasn't giving up the chance to end it once and for all. "No, we've just got to stop our Moms!"

* * *

"Go for the eyes!" Glory ordered the Outsiders as the battle raged. "Hit them low! Get them!"

"What do we do? What do we do?" Xander cried, rushing around in a panic, dodging attacks.

"There's only one thing we can do, Xander" said Anya seriously. "'When the going gets tough, the tough get going!', that's our motto!"

"I thought our motto was 'Hakuna Matata'" said Xander, confused.

"Geez, Xander stop living in the past" said Anya, frowning. "We need a new motto." Then she leapt onto Xander's back, Xander rolled his eye, and they charged into battle. Then, they crashed right into three angry looking Outsider women, who snarled viciously at them, and Xander turned and headed right back the way they had come. "Like I said" said Anya as the Outsiders gave chase, "Let's get going!"

Meanwhile, Tara was battling her way through the outsiders, when she suddenly found Cordelia grinning down at her from a rock.

"Where's your pretty little daughter, Tara?" she taunted.

"Cordelia.." said Tara sympathetically. She remembered Cordy as being quite a sweet little girl before her Mother had been banished, and felt she would have stayed that way if she had remained in the Sunnylands. Deep down, Cordelia knew that too, and the kindness in Tara's tone unsettled her for a moment, but then she shook her head, leaping off the rock in a vicious attack. It was too late for her.

The three Outsiders who had been chasing Xander and Anya had them cornered, pinned against the back of the cave. They gulped, thinking that this was the end. Then, Anya had an idea. She spun Xander around, told him to bend over, and grabbed his finger.

"Nobody move!" she yelled, threatening to pull it. "This thing's loaded, and I'm not afraid to use it!" The Outsiders froze for a second, then shrieked in terror, fleeing from the cave. "Talk about your winds of war" Anya smirked.

Outside though, Glory cackled victoriously as the battle seemed to be turning in her favour. It was time to end this.

"Willow!" she yelled, drawing the Queen's attention as she approached, "You're mine!" Hearing the cry, the Outsiders and Sunnylanders backed away, clearing a space for their leaders' final showdown.

* * *

"Uh-oh" said Sophie.

"You can say that again, Little Red" Faith agreed.

"Uh-oh."


	16. Love Is A Powerful Thing

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.

* * *

"Aww, it's not that bad" Willow chuckled.

"Well it seems pretty damn bad" Faith frowned.

"Yeah" Sophie pouted, crossing her arms.

"Look, both of you just listen to this next part" Willow grinned. "Just as Willow and Glory were about to strike their first blows.."

* * *

"Stop!" yelled Buffy and Faith in unison, leaping between their Mothers in the Nick of time and stopping the battle.

"Buffy?" cried Willow, surprised.

"Faith?" Glory growled, annoyed.

"Stand aside" said Willow, glaring at her daughter.

"No, Mom! This has to stop!" Buffy cried.

"You're even weaker than I thought!" Glory spat at Faith. "You couldn't even accept your banishment like an adult! Had to come running back to Mommy, didn't you? Well, I'm done with you Faith, you useless excuse for a daughter! Now get out of my way so I can cleran up the mess you've made!"

"No" Faith growled at her Mother. "As long as I'm alive and breathin' I will never let you hurt Buffy.." the Dark Slayer hesitated for a moment, glancing over at the still stony-faced Queen of the Sunnylands, then back to Glory, more determined than ever, adding "Or Willow." Willow was stunned for a moment, but quickly regained her composure.

"Stay out of this, both of you" she said, frowning at both of the girls.

"Mom" said Buffy, locking her eyes with Willow's, "When I was little, a wise Queen once told me that 'we are one'. I didn't understand what she meant then... Now I do."

"But.. they.." Willow stammered.

"They.. us" said Buffy. "They are us. Look at them Mom, really look at them. What differences do you see?" Willow looked around at the Outsiders, all drenched from the rain, and scratched up from fighting. Though slihtly less dishevelled, Willow realised that the Sunnylanders looked very much the same. Buffy was right, they really were one. The Queen turned back to her daughter giving a small smile to show she understood, before moving forward to hug her as the clouds parted and the rain ceased to fall. Glory grinned, ready to seize her chance.

"Cordelia, now!" the Hell-God ordered. Cordy hesitated. "What are you waiting for?" Glory snapped. "Attack!"

"No, Mom" said Cordelia finally, moving to stand beside Faith, who gave her sister a warm smile which she returned. "Buffy's right. Enough."

"Fine then!" Glory snarled. "If you won't fight, then you'll die with them!" The other Outsiders gasped, disgusted at the lows to which their leader was apparently willing to stoop, and began to leave her, moving to stand with Willow and the Sunnylanders. "What are you doing?" Glory yelled. "Come back!"

"Let it go, Glory" said Willow. down the embankment behind her, a growing amount of water was leaking through the partially collapsed dam. "It's time to put the past behind us."

"I'll never let it go!" Glory roared. "This is for you, Wilkins!" The Hell-God lunged at Willow, aiming to send her over the embankment, but Buffy got in the way, sending them both tumbling over.

"Buffy!" screamed Willow and Faith in unison. Willow began climbing down the embankment to reach her daughter who, thankfully, had landed safely on a ledge, though Glory dangled precariously below her. Suddenly, the dam broke, causing the river to begin to flood up the embankment.

"Willow, hurry!" cried Tara, pointing. "The river!" Willow nodded, trying to get down faster.

"Glory, grab my hand!" yelled Buffy, reaching an arm out to the Hell-God. Glory swiped at Buffy angrily, slipping further down the rock face. "Come on!" the Princess cried desperately. "I want to help you!"

"Never!" Glory spat. She swiped again, but this time lost her grip on the wall. Buffy made one last grab for her, but it was too late and the God-King fell to her death into the swirling rapids below. Watching from the top of the embankment, Faith and Cordy closed their eyes, sighing sadly. Willow finally reached the ledge.

"I tried, Mom" Buffy sobbed into the Queen's shoulder as she embraced her. "I tried."

"I know" Willow whispered, hugging her tight.

"They won't be able to climb back up, the rocks are too slippery now" Faith frowned.

"We'll have to find some way to help them" Tara agreed, turning to the Dark Slayer. "Do you have any ideas?" Faith started, surprised that Tara was seeling her opinion, but quickly recovered.

"Well, I guess we could make a human chain and pull 'em up" she suggested. Tara nodded, turning back to the Sunnylanders who were looking to her for guidance in Willow's absence. "You heard her, everyone! Human chain, now!"

* * *

So, a chain was formed. Faith herself formed the final link in this chain, grabbing both Willow and Buffy by the collar, and with the help of the Sunnylanders pulled them to safety just as the rising water engulfed the ledge they had been standing on.

"Oh, thank God you're both okay!" cried Tara, embracing her wife and daughter. Buffy smiled as she hugged her parents, then spotted Faith waiting patiently nearby and broke away from them, running over and throwing her arms around her.

"We did it" she smiled, resting her head against the othr girl's shoulder.

"Yeah, we did" Faith grinned. Willow watched this scene feeling rather awkward, until Tara nudged her, and she sighed. Yep, it was time for the Queen to eat a big ol' slice of humble pie.

"Faith?" The girl in question looked up nervously as the Queen adressed her, and Buffy tightened her grip, so Willow smiled to put them at ease. "I'm sorry, I was wrong. You do belong here."

"Thank you" Faith smiled, while Buffy beamed.

"Let's go home" Willow smiled, looking around at the Sunnylanders, and former Outsiders. "All of us."

* * *

When Willow and her now much larger group of followers returned to Sunny Rock, they found Lorne waiting for them. Buffy and Faith climbed to the top of the rock, and Lorne shook his staff over their heads to bless their union, with all their loved ones looking on.

"I just love happy endings" said Anya, whimpering.

"Not like.." Xander sniffled.

"LOVE!" the pair cried in unison, bursting into tears. Willow and Tara joined Buffy and Faith at the tip of the rock. A beam of sunlight shone down on the four of them, and Willow could have sorn she heard Giles' voice.

_"Well done, my dear Willow."_

"The end" Willow grinned.

"That was a good ending" Sophie giggled.

"Yeah, I guess so" said Faith, standing up. "I'm uh, gonna go find B."

"What's your hurry?" Willow smirked. Faith rolled her eyes, and left the room, soon finding Buffy in the hall.

"There you are!" the blonde smiled. "Where were yo-mm" She was cut off as Faith suddenly kissed her. "What was that for?" she grinned.

"I love you, B. And thank you."

"For what?" said Buffy, confused.

"For giving me a chance, after.." she sighed, "After everythin' I did."

"I fell in love with you" Buffy shrugged, giving a small smile. "Love's a powerful thing."

"Yeah" Faith grinned, "It is."

* * *

AN: The end! Okay, which Disney movie should I Buffy-fy next? I have a few in mind, but I'm open to suggestions :)


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